


Flickering Shadows

by WolfenSpirit



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, One Shot, Yang Xiao Long Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 07:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20689889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenSpirit/pseuds/WolfenSpirit
Summary: Deft fingers pulled the velcro loose around her wrist until the glove was pulled off. The motion stung- bones aching in her hand from the hours of abuse- but her stomach dropped when she saw what had made Blake take her hand. The skin over her knuckles had been rubbed raw; split open with blood trickling over pale flesh. A few stray drops fell to the floor.~*~*~In which Yang is suffering from self doubt and anxiety after the train crash, and Blake tries to help. Set between volumes 2 and 3.





	Flickering Shadows

"I'm not weak."

Her words were thick, and rasped out dryly into the still air. The determined growl that laced the simple phrase had long since died in Yang's throat, but was still set firmly in her mind. A huffed breath through clenched teeth- her lungs burned in her chest beside her uncontrollably racing heart- and she lashed out at the swinging sandbag in front of her.

_ "One, two, hook, duck, jab… _ " she thought, gloved fists pounding into the vinyl with all the force she could muster. Frustration burned through her veins. The heavy sandbag wasn't swaying on its' chain anymore. It moved, but looked more like it did when Ruby punched it. Only spinning lazily on silver chains with a slight back and forth dance.

"I'm not weak." She breathed again, sending another combo of punches into the offending object. Yet she couldn't deny the way her muscled screamed for a break, straining against the effort Yang was forcing her aching body to put out. Everything hurt; she was worn out, bruised, and slick with perspiration that had soaked through her sports bra and work out shorts hours ago.

Finally she stopped for a moment, head tilted back as she panted wheezing out breaths. Her mouth felt dangerously dry when she swallowed, so she resigned herself to a few minutes break. The wooden bleachers on the side of the training court creaked as the blonde sat down with a flop. Reaching into her duffle bag to grab one of the several full water bottles she'd brought with, she let her mind wander.

_ "The Vytal Festival is in two weeks. It's a bit surreal to realize the famous tournament Rubes and I used to watch as kids will have us in it this time. Ruby is so excited for it. I'm going to do my best to see it through that we win the first round. I can't let her down. Not again."  _ Her brow furrowed at the thought while she dropped the towel on the floor. It landed in a useless heap on the stack of empty bottles Yang had already downed that evening. The piece of fabric was wet: too wet to continue using.  _ "Just like me… "  _ She thought bitterly.  _ "I'm not useful to anyone once I'm down. Easily forgotten, cast aside, left behind." _

Her jaw clenched, frame sagged forward to rest elbows on her knees as she dug her blunt nails into her scalp. Her heel bounced on the ground rapidly, tapping in time with the storm of negative thoughts swarming her mind akin to an angry wasp's hive. The sweat trying to dry on her skin suddenly felt like ants crawling over body and she squeezed her lilac eyes shut tight. Self doubt burned in her thumping heart; pink and brown eyes smiling with all knowing mockery flashed behind Yang's lids.

The sudden burst of righteous fury and self hatred had the brawler back on her tired feet, stomping forward to the bag again for the umpteenth time that night.

"I'm not weak!" She shouted to into the empty room, finding her growl again. Punch after punch rocketed into the equipment. Embers of yellow auric flames danced over her toned body. The bag swung viciously from each quaking impact. A hard cross, sending it on an upswing away from her. Her fists dropped a fraction of an inch. Muscles coiled in her back and legs as she sprung on the downswing. The sharp crack of bare skin hitting the vinyl sent a flare of pain lancing through her shin from the force of her kick. She landed on her toes, bouncing into a back spin kick that would have made her father smile and clap her on the back proudly.

_ "Shit _ ," was all she had time to register as her foot connected with empty air. The first kick had sent the bag too far for her fast turnaround to hit, and her tennis shoe was caught toe first when the heavy bag slammed back into her bent leg before she could pull out of the way. Yang was thrown off balance and wound up sprawled face first on the training mat. For a long moment, she simply laid there panting.

It was only when she felt the mat under her vibrate from the soft foot falls approaching did she try to stand, barely making it to hands and knees when two smaller hands gripped lightly under her biceps. Yang blinked, trying to clear her exhaustion hazed vision. A familiar face was close to her- golden eyes shining with concern as the person eased her into a kneeling position- and Yang could see their mouth move in question. The words were drowned out by the sound of her own rushing blood thudding through her skull and ragged breaths ripping from her throat hard and shallow.

Yang was distantly aware of the person in front of her taking a bag off their shoulder one handedly, then rifling through it until they found a clean towel. She faintly felt the cloth being wiped over her forehead and neck, down her arms and across her chest where her bra didn't cover. She was acutely aware of the fact that her entire body was shuddering hard. Eyes closed again, the brawler tried to get herself to calm down, to make her breaths even out and heart stop stuttering in it's painfully uneven gate.  _ "Double shit, how hard did I push myself that time. I can't pass out now. Breathe Yang, breathe." _

The blonde sucked in a long breath, nearly wanting to vomit from the way her insides recoiled at the action, and forced it out in a sharp huff. She did it again and again, and little by little the tightness in her chest eased off with each calculated exhale.

"...Breathe Yang, deep in and slow out. Easy, easy." The pounding in her head subsided, Yang could hear now that she was being spoken to by a calm voice. A very familiar voice.

"Blake?" She wheezed, looking up at the faunus kneeling in front of her. A fresh wave of panic settled in her gut. Not because of resurfacing torments crashing into her mind. But because she hadn't wanted anyone to see her like this- definitely not her friends or teammates- and especially not her raven haired partner who was unfairly cute with the soft pout on her mouth right now.  _ "Ugh, Yang, can you please shut your gay up for like two seconds?" _ , she silently chided herself.

"Shhh, just breathe. It's just me." Blake swiped the towel gently down the side of Yang's face on both sides. Her uncovered ears were trained forward, flicking delicately each time an exhale would tickle their fur. The black and yellow pair sat like that for a good minute until Blake was sure her partner wasn't going to end up hyperventilating on her to the point of blacking out. Only then did she stop her careful task of wiping away the sweat dripping off of Yang.

"Here." Lilac eyes watched Blake as she reached back into the bag at her side and she pulled out a reusable water bottle. Though when Yang went to accept it, her overworked muscles sent tremors through hers arms at the effort of just lifting her hands. Blake gently laid her palm on one of her arms to lower them again, before sitting up a little higher on her knees. She flipped the cap open and took Yang's jaw in her fingertips, holding the bottle steady while helping her friend sip from it.

The fluid that washed over Yang's parched tongue was bitter, like ground up tea leaves had been mixed in with the honey sweetened water. Still, she took each sip gratefully.

"What are you doing here, Blake?" Her voice didn't crack that time, thankfully, but it was chipped with a faint tone of accusation. Embarrassment from being caught like this was seeping into her words.

"I came looking for you. It's almost two a.m, and you've been gone since eight." Gold eyes flicked downward, roaming over taught muscles no longer heaving or quaking from exertion. It wasn't the type of ogling Yang silently craved to one day catch her Faunus partner looking at her with, though. No, by the way Blake's dark brows furrowed and creased, she was looking at the black and purple prints blooming over her stomach and arms. A myriad of colors healing beneath her skin. "I…you should be resting, Yang. You're hurt."

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine." Yang clipped, crossing her arms under her chest to hide the worst of the marks. "They'll heal. Besides, I got line-driven through two bridge cement supports then straight up punched through a third one last semester." She threw on a classic Xiao Long easy grin, hoping to sooth the ravenette. "I think a few bumps from a couple of angry boarbatusks aren't gonna kill me, Blakey."

Blake's frown tugged deeper at her lips, her second set of ears flicking backward to nearly lay flat against her hair as she laid her open palm on the outer thigh in front of her. Her thumb brushing the edge of a yellowed green welt there. If Yang hadn't known better, it almost looked like Blake was going to start crying as she gazed at the old and new bruises.

"Blake…" willing her hand to be steady, she used a gloved hand to tip the faunus' chin back up. "Really, I'm fine. This," she lazily waved a hand at herself, trying to hide the insecurities she harboured in her heart behind her casual smile. "It's no big deal, honestly. I'm used to this." Her heart jumped slightly when her hand was caught between Blake's.

Deft fingers pulled the velcro loose around her wrist until the glove was pulled off. The motion stung- bones aching in her hand from the hours of abuse- but her stomach dropped when she saw what had made Blake take her hand. The skin over her knuckles had been rubbed raw; split open with blood trickling over pale flesh. A few stray drops fell to the floor.

Silence settled over them like a heated blanket. Yang unable to meet her partner's eyes or have the energy to stop the dark haired beauty from removing her other glove. Two smaller towels were pulled from Blake's bag and she took clear water from a second bottle to pour onto them. Gently wrapping each hand in one of the towels, she laid Yang's hands on the brawler's lap.

Then she did something that took Yang by complete surprise, and it made her heart leap into her throat. Blake shifted around until she was seated behind Yang's side and slowly pulled on broad shoulders until the blonde was slumped over with her head on Blake's chest.

"Uh, Blake, not that I'm complaining but what are you doing?" She tried to look up at her friend, shifting somewhat to get more comfortable. Fingertips trailing up and down her arm in soothing strokes left goosebumps trailing after them.  _ "Oh gods I hope she can't hear how much my heart is racing now."  _ In her new position, she was distinctly aware of just how soft Blake's chest felt under her cheek.  _ "This is not the time to gay! Not. The. Time." _

"You do so much for us, the team. You take hits the rest of us can't and get back up swinging. You're always there for your friends when we need you. Even if we don't realize it." The quiet sadness in the faunus' voice made Yang's chest clench. "But you hide when you need support. I don't know what happened to you on the train Yang, but you've been acting differently since then. What's going on?"

There it was, the kicking question Yang didn't want to be asked. Her jaw clenched. She knew it, and it made her anger churn in her gut as her fears were confirmed.  _ "They can see how weak I am. How useless I am. They must be laughing behind my back how at fucking weak and pathetic I am. I'm not good enough. I'll never be good enough. And now that they can see how goddamn worthless I am to everyone they're going to walk away from me. I'm going to end up alone again. Always alone. Always forgotten. Never good enough. Just everyone's punching bag they throw away when they're done with me. Just-" _

"Shhh, shhh Dragon, it's ok. It's ok. I'm right here." Soft words were whispered in her ear as she realized she was being gently rocked. Then she realized she had started to cry. The hand stroking her arm tenderly wiped the tears away as the comforting hold on her shivering form tightened a fraction: grounding her.

"D-do you think I'm weak?" The words slipped out before she could stop them. A small hiccup choked her. "I keep seeing her f-face in my dreams. I couldn't do anything." Yang hated how her voice sounded so small, so broken and fragile. How it sounded like she felt for the past week.

"I don't think about impossible things." The words rumbled under her ear, settling on her mind like the sun settles on a foggy dawn, melting her darkened thoughts away slowly. "You're strong, and brave. Not just physically but your heart is, too. I can see it everyday. In the way you smile when you tell one of your horrid jokes without fear, or when you set aside time for each of us to make sure we're ok. You've taken what the world has thrown at you and smiled, rolled with the punches, and winked when faced with a challenge. No, I don't think of you as weak Yang, because you're the strongest person I've ever met."

Warmth trickled into Yang's chest, spreading through to her limbs and wrapping around her mind. Not a burning warm like the fire of her semblance, but a warmth like sunlight seeping into her bones and calming her soul. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She placed her wrapped hand on Blake's knee.

"Thank you. I… really needed to hear that." She murmured. She laid with her eyes closed for a moment, simply enjoying letting someone be there for her before a sudden realization struck her. "Blake, you came in here with your ears exposed. Why? Someone could have seen you." She attempted to sit up but was merely hugged back into the slighter body holding her.

"These rooms are sound proofed. I needed to find you, make sure you were ok when you didn't come back to the dorm. I couldn't waste time just checking everywhere so I took the bow off to listen. I heard you shout and when I found the right room… you were just laying there on the floor gasping for air like you couldn't breathe." The hug was tightened again like Blake thought Yang might start panicking again if she didn't hold her close enough. "I should've found you sooner. I should've-" she cuts herself short, letting go of a long breath of her own. "You looked like you were having a panic attack. I didn't- I didn't know what to do…"

Yang gave Blake's knee a small squeeze, but for once had nothing to say. It wasn't a full panic attack, but she had pushed herself too far in trying to get rid of her inner demons. She'd made her partner worry about her. She instantly knew she could never do that again.

The apology was on the tip of her tongue when the second thing Yang had thought Blake would never do, happened.

"What you got if you ain't got love, the kind that you just want to give away…" Blake's voice was whisper quiet as she sang, but oh so sweet and gentle. Her soft words were the only thing Yang could think about suddenly. She'd heard that song before though, she wasn't very familiar with it. "It's ok to open up; go ahead and let the light shine through."

Yang let out a faint sniffle, turning her head to rub her nose off on her shoulder before she let herself be snuggled down further into Blake's warm body. Dull nails scratched lightly up and down the small of her back while she committed the lyrics to memory. Not because it was a spectacular song in her opinion, but because it was Blake singing it to her.

"I know it's hard on a rainy day, you want to shut the whole world out and just be left alone, but don't give up on your faith." Blake-freaking-Belladonna was singing a song unprompted for Yang. Her voice was sweetly melodic and if Yang hadn't thought it would disturb the faunus, she would have wrapped Blake up in the biggest bear hug she could've given at that moment. Instead, she settled for grinning like a dork into her partner's collarbone.

"'Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand. What you've been out there searching for forever is in your hands." Blake paused, her chin coming down to rest lightly on top of the blonde's head as she took a deep breath. Yang almost didn't hear the next line, but butterflies fluttered in her belly even though the words were muffled into her damp curls. "And when you figure out love is all that matters after all… It sure makes everything else seem so small…"

Yang couldn't remember why she had been crying in the first place. In fact, in some odd self realization Blake gave her, she felt her previous worries felt silly.  _ "I got beaten once by someone who has more experience than I do. I shouldn't… I've been acting like a dumbass. Gods they've probably been worried about me lately. Way to go Yang, jackass." _

A wide yawn cracked her jaw and Yang knew she should get up. It would be extremely embarrassing to fall asleep on her partner in the middle of the night when they were breaking school rules. Even on Saturdays, they were still bound by curfew. 

Blake was still singing though. Exhaustion hindered Yang's mind and she could no longer pay attention to the exact words being said. She only heard the melody, felt the warmth of slender arms cradling her, and distantly wondered if maybe Blake had chosen this particular song for more reasons than just calming Yang down.

The brawler didn't know, didn't have the energy to make herself wake up enough to think about it or ask. The last thing she could recognize before sleep overtook her weary frame was the light pressure of a gentle kiss being placed on the top of her head.

**Author's Note:**

> Song credit and copyright belongs to Carrie Underwood "So Small"


End file.
